Freethinker ~ Freerunner

Today the schedule called for 4 miles at an 8:58 pace.  

I ended up running them in a 7:42 pace.  I've been having the hardest time holding back, even though I know I'm supposed to.  I read in Gordon Bloch's book, "How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon" that you must always feel like you are holding something back during your training.  Once you have built up that solid base of training you will be able to fully unleash all your energy on race day.  I must make myself do that. 

I'm going to make it my goal for the next few weeks to remember to pace my self according to my training goals.  

Splits:  7:28, 8:02, 7:30, 7:54

The temperature was 39 tonight and the weather conditions were wet.  It was misting heavily and foggy.  Part of my neighborhood course is through a grassy area.   That area must have been soaked good today because several times my feet got pretty wet and soggy.  My run was at night though, so I could not really see a thing as to the ground conditions.

My schedule called for 6 miles, 1 warm up, 1 cool down, and 4 at a 7:33 pace. 

Splits: 8:21, 7:24, 7:30, 6:58, 6:57, 8:06

I ran 16 miles today.  My goal pace was 8:56, and I averaged 8:53.  The temperature was 37 degrees with very little wind, so conditions were pretty nice. 

I am little nervous about the Post Oak Lodge run coming up.  I only had to run off road for about half a mile today at about mile 13, and my legs felt like gummy worms on that part of my run.  The Post Oak run is all off road and it is 15 miles.  I think I am a prepared as I can be though, because my training course is quite hilly.  I don't know anything about the Post Oak difficulty as far as the terrain is concerned, but I think I can't be any hillier than my training course.  Its just that it's all off road.    

I ran 2 miles on the treadmill today at 8:56 pace.  I also worked out upper body and legs.  

Tonight I went to the high school track to do some speed work.  I was supposed to run 7 miles including: 1 warm up, 3x1600 meter runs at 7:04 pace with 800 meter jogs in between, followed by one cool down mile.  I thought that I kept an accurate count of all those warm up, cool down, and in between jogs laps, which should have totaled 7 miles when it was all said and done, but my GPS registered 7.75 when I thought I still had one more lap to go.  I'm not sure how that happened.  

I feel really accomplished tonight because I ran the three miles faster than my goal pace of 7:04.   

Splits:  7:03, 7:03, 6:59. 

I ran 18 miles today in 32 degree temperature with 18 mph winds.  I was running into the wind for the first 9 miles, and running with the wind at my back more or less for the last 9. 

First 9 took 1h 21m 20s.  Last 9 took 1h 21m 12s.  

My legs feel very fatigued, but no more than at the end of my 16 mile run 1 week ago.  I am beginning to see first hand the result of building up high mileage gradually. 

Schedule was to run an easy 3 mile run today at an 8:56 pace. 

Splits:  8:07, 8:18, 8:31

I ran 6 miles tonight.  The mid forties temperature tonight was nice.  It is a lot warmer than the low thirties I have experienced for the last several weeks.  

I ran 1 warm up mile, followed by 4 fast miles, then a cool down mile.  

Splits: 8:50, 6:56, 7:08, 6:50, 6:46, 8:02.

Long run today.  It rained on me a little and I had to run through water that was about 3 inches deep 4 miles in, so my feet were soaked for the majority of the run.  I did not care for the affect of the extra weight that wet shoes and socks cause.  It felt really hard to finish today.  20 miles is the furthest I have ever run.  Add the extra weight of the wet feet and the hilly route that I took, and I found my self having to repeatedly speaking out loud "I'm going to finish," on those last 3 miles.

I finished in 3h 3m 14s at a 9:09 mile pace.  I think I would have easily run faster than my 8:56 goal pace had I not had soaking wet feet for 80% of the run.  

Ran 8 miles today at average pace of 7m 42s per mile.  The muscles around my ankles were pretty sore from my 20 mile run two days ago.  I did some strength training last night of my calves and thighs that I'm sure contributed some to the soreness felt today as well.  I can't remember having run with ankles this sore ever before though.  I probably did not feel comfortable until around mile 6.  

Temperature 38, wind about 4 mph.  

Splits:  7:56, 8:30, 8:08, 8:04, 7:32, 7:31, 7:05, 6:50

I was supposed to run 7 miles tonight at an 8:56 pace, but my left ankle seems to be a little sore and slightly swollen.  I think I over worked a little on Sunday, and then really did it in on Tuesday when I ran 8 miles fast.  

I have a 25k race on sunday, so I figured I go easy tonight and rest up until the race on Sunday.  I ran 3 on the treadmill tonight at an 8:56 pace.  

This was actually a race, but unfortunately I did not finish so I won't be posting it as a race.  It was called the Post Oak Lodge Run, and it was run on the trails.  As this was the first year for this race, the courses were not as clearly marked as many of us runners thought they should have been.  This resulted in runners getting lost off the trail several times during the race.  I actually did not finish the third loop out into the trails because I came to a sign on the trail telling the 25K racers to turn around and head toward the finish.  As it turned out I was supposed to have kept going.  I would have hit that sign again one last time before turning around.  I was a little confused about this, because I already had no idea how far I had actually run since I had probably run more than 3 miles off the course on the first loop.  

 All the confusion aside, and the mishap which led to my not finishing the entire course, I did have fun on my first trail race.  It was very muddy and full of uphill jaunts.  We also had to cross several creeks getting wet sometimes.  It really challenged me as a runner. 

I'm looking forward to running it next year when I will have a better idea as to the course, and hopefully encountering a little less mud.